Too Little, Too Late
by Karevsanatomy
Summary: Meredith tells Derek off. Like the title, suggests she tells him it is just a little too late for him to be saying he loves her.


-1**Author's Note: I got the idea for this one shot from a song my son was listening to the other day. Too Little, Too Late by JoJo. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is about a girl who has had enough of the games her boyfriend has been playing. She tells him that nothing he says is going to change her mind, he's just a little too late. It reminded me so much of Meredith and Derek that I had to write this. **

**Too Little, Too Late**

A crisp breeze ruffled the honey waves of a tight lipped young woman sitting alone at one of the many little, wrought iron tables outside a quaint café that overlooked Puget Sound. The low hanging gray clouds had driven most of the other patrons inside, not this woman though. She was determined to weather it out, to stand her ground. Neither emotion had much to do with the pending storm, but everything to do with the man she was waiting for.

He came about ten minutes into her wait. Looking the way he always looked, rumpled in a sexy, flannel shirt kind of way. Except he wasn't wearing flannel today, instead his usual comfortable uniform was replaced with a stiff looking charcoal gray suit. It fit him to perfection, and while some women might have found it sexy, she found it cold.

"Meredith." He said stiffly. His sky blue eyes refused to meet her emerald green ones. A sign that he knew what he had done was inexcusable. "You said you wanted to talk?"

Meredith stared up at the man who stood before her. The numbness that surrounded her came as a shock. A few days ago, maybe even a few hours ago, her heart would have been racing and her knees weak. Not now. Not anymore. Whatever emotions she had carried around for Derek Shepherd were gone. "Yeah," she said softly, hating how husky her voice sounded. It implied she was going to ask him to pick her. Again.

The coldness left his gaze. His shoulder's seemed to relax right before her eyes. He thought she was going to do it, that she was going to grovel. He was in for a shock. "I truly am sorry, Mer. It won't happen again. I'm done with Rose."

"Are you?" Meredith leaned back in the little chair only to jerk back upright when her back connected with the cold metal.

"Yes." Derek insisted. The sound of metal scrapping against concrete screeched through the air as he pulled the chair across from her's out. Typical of him, not asking, just assuming. "I was confused."

"Confused?" Meredith lifted both brows. The sad part was he most likely believed that. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. "Where you confused when you forgot to tell me about your wife?" His mouth opened to respond. She held up a hand. She was on a roll. She would say her piece. Then, maybe, he could say his. "Where you confused when I begged you to pick me, and you chose Addison instead? Where you confused when you kept me dangling on a string by giving me looks, and making me feel bad about trying to move on? Where you confused when you had sex with me in an exam room, stole my panties, and left them where you knew your wife would find them?" She sat up taller, proud of how assertive she sounded. She had never stood up to a man before. It was a good feeling. "And, I'm guessing you were also confused when you needed time to think after Addison left your ass. Oh, and let's not forget how confused you were when hit on my sister in a bar. It seems to me you spend more time confused than not."

"Do I get to speak now?" Derek asked crossly. She nodded, still feeling rather proud of herself. "I should have told you about Addison. I should have explained the whole situation. You have no idea how much I regret not telling you. How much I regret all those other things you mentioned."

"Life can't be built on regrets, Derek. And that's all I would ever have with you. A bunch of regrets. Your's. Mine. Our's. I'm tired of the confusion that is your life. I'm tired of hearing that you regret something after you have done it. Yeah, I know, it's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't. Still. You're starting to be nothing but one giant regret and I deserve more than that." Meredith pushed her chair away from the table. A fine mist had started drizzling from the low hanging clouds. She stepped around him, started walking down the street to where she had parked her car.

"Meredith!"

Turning around, she paused in the middle of the side walk. "What?"

"I love you! I love you more than life itself. I want to spend my life…our lives…making it up to you!"

She couldn't help it. She laughed. "Oh Derek, don't you get it? You're just a little too late." She turned back around, a smile on her face. Freedom had never felt better.


End file.
